JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 14, 2022) – A former poet laureate of the United States is coming to East Tennessee State University.
Natasha Trethewey, a Pulitzer Prize winner, will speak at 6 p.m. on April 6 at the
ETSU Foundation Grand Hall in the Martin Center for the Arts. The event is free and open to the public.
“It is a tremendous honor that our institution gets to host someone as well known
and accomplished as Natasha Trethewey,” said Dr. Daryl A. Carter, a professor of history,
associate dean and director of the Black American Studies Program. “We encourage students, faculty, staff and members of the community to attend what
is sure to be an engaging event.”
On April 6, Trethewey will discuss her New York Times bestselling memoir, “Memorial
Drive.” The book, released in 2020, won the Pulitzer Prize.
Born in Mississippi in the 1960s to a Black mother and a white father, the book chronicles
many aspects of Trethewey’s life – including the murder of her mother.
Trethewey served from 2012-2014 as the 19th poet laureate of the U.S. Author of five
collections of poetry, she has earned a range of prestigious fellowships and honors.
In 2012, Mississippi named her poet laureate of the state. In 2013, the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences inducted Trethewey.
For additional information about the event, contact Carter at carterda@etsu.edu. For disability accommodations, call the ETSU Office of Disability Services at (423) 439-8346.